Irreplacable
by Imagine.a.butterflys.soul
Summary: When the people closes to Rachel become hostile, how long will it take before reality slaps them in the face? Rated T just to be safe as there is some language in this fic.. enjoy xx
1. Chapter 1

Irreplaceable – part 1

Rachel Mason studied her immaculate reflection in the rear-view mirror of her brand new Mazda C6; not that she should ever feel obligated to of course, her warm sun-kissed complexion seemed to beam akin to a halo hand crafted by the most talented of angels; the caramel tones in her hair making her brown eyes pop into the faces of in awe spectators. However lately it helped drown out the bothersome sound of her 16-year-old daughter droning on monotonously about yet the most recent fashion vogue.

"Mum! Can you give me one plausible reason of why I can't get one?!" Rachel didn't even rotate in order to face her daughter directly; as to be frank she was not inclined to engage further with this futile tête-à-tête; hence she merely looked her daughter in the eye through the rear-view mirror speaking in a serene tone.

"Naomi, we've spoken about this and you know that it's out of the question, now can you please drop the idea please?" Rachel did not avert her authoritive gaze from her daughter, motioning for Naomi to hand over the stack of folders on the back seat, hitherto Rachel had become all too aware that Naomi was 16, she was temperamentally irritable at times, and if Rachel knew her daughter accurately she wasn't going down without a fight.

"I seriously cannot believe that you are doing this to me! Mum, in case you've failed to notice I'm 16 years old." The reverberating sound of Naomi's voice inconspicuously caused Rachel to groan almost inaudibly before retaliating to her daughter's futile demands.

"Exactly Naomi! 16, not 18, therefore no tattoo." By now Rachel had completely bowed in her seat in order to epitomize her daughter's resolute facial expression. "If I sought my child to follow what everyone else was doing, I would have raised a sheep and I didn't so don't ask again or believe you me, you will not like the consequences." By now Rachel tone was laced with such an authoritive conduct that it dripped with seriousness, which in turn caused a defeated Naomi to merely glare at her mother before scowling loudly, flinging her self out of the car and illustrating her anger by slamming the door with a lot more vigour than necessary.

It was now Rachel's turn to glare at her daughter as she stormed towards the entrance of Waterloo Road. 'What ever happened to my little girl?' Rachel thought to herself as she stepped out of the car onto the tarmac, she was well aware that she herself hadn't been too easy to live with these days with the constant tension of LEA inspections wearing out on her, but what necessitate was there for everyone else to be so god damn hostile towards her? Glancing at her watch Rachel sighed stressfully before closing the car door with the similar force her daughter had used only a few moments prior, only to perceptibly curse when the pile of folders that were balancing in her arms toppled to the ground.

"For fuck sake!" Rachel hissed loudly, bending down to gather the array of files that had dispensed messily around her.

Eddie Lawson and Philip Ryan had been stood next to Eddie's car, witnessing the scene between mother and daughter, disbelieving looks spread across their features.

"Phil mate, do you mind waiting inside a minute while I talk to Rachel?" Eddie uttered to Philip as he began to head in the direction of a very peeved Rachel Mason.

"Good luck with that one Eddie" Philip called amusingly as he ran to catch up to his cousin.

"Want to tell me what that was all about Rach?" Eddie enquired brusquely as Rachel slowly remained an upright deportment, trying not to wobble in her heels.

"Eddie I can't be done with you and you're snide little comments today" Eddie bit his lip in order to suppress his retaliation to the venomous reaction that Rachel had given him. 'Well if that's the way the wants to play the game then so be it' Eddie deliberated as he locked his car door, not for one second averting his glare from Rachel who was now half way up the stairs heading towards her office. However like all pig headed men, Eddie Lawson could not distinguish how to do anything but impede where he was not welcome, and in this case his opinion was certainly not invited. Of course a certain Mr Lawson failed to consider this factor before bee lining for Rachel's office, more that willing to bite back.

"What the bleeding hell is your problem Rach?" Eddie scolded, stepping aggressively in to Rachel's office. Rachel didn't retort to Eddie's rampant outburst, he wasn't even convinced whether she had chosen to acknowledge his presence as she was too preoccupied with taking her frustration out on the piece of paper that lay in front of her; and if Eddie didn't know any better he was sure that she could have turned the pen into a noxious weapon.

"RACHEL!" This time Rachel snapped round, her eyes burning with aggravation, still she remained silent staring Eddie down as his chest heaved with an adrenaline surge to fight. Though if Eddie had cared to approach her fully he would have seen the yearning tiredness in her eyes; the sign that she simply didn't have the energy to fight as they had done now for the past 3 days.

"Eddie, just leave it, I'm not in the mood to have an argument right now…" She tried to keep the calmness evident in her voice yet couldn't contain the slight waver it gave as Eddie interrupted with yet another hostile dispute.

"Well then when are you in the mood huh Rach? When are you, because to be quite frank you're never in the mood these days? Your problem with Naomi is not going to go away on its own, you can't just sweep it under the carpet and expect a magic flaming wand to make it disappear!" Rachel gave an exasperated sigh, why couldn't he just see that she didn't want to argue, but then again the niggling anger and frustration was beginning to over shadow her better judgement. That's when she snapped.

"FOR GOD SAKE EDDIE, WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO INSTIGATE AN ARGUMENT ALL THE BLOODY TIME?! I DON'T HAVE THE TIME FOR ALL OF THIS!"

"So what are you saying Rach? Giving up on us, running away at the first little hurdle?" Eddies voice was now quiet yet still oozed poison as his eyes spat disgusted looks at her. "You know what Rach? You need to sort that head out of yours, and come find me when the real Rachel Mason decides to make an appearance." Before Rachel could register Eddie's cold words to retaliate she found herself looking back at an empty space; she let out a shaky breath to keep the frustrating tears that were beginning to creep up on her at bay before solemnly making her way towards the staff meeting.

"Come on Haydock, you yourself should know that Rachel isn't going to let you go on this trip, not after what happened last time." More often than not Matt Wilding would hastily jump at the likelihood of a complimentary excursion courtesy of the school funding, however granted the hefty bill brought back last time Steph Haydock was allowed to venture into the domain of France, he refused to build his hopes only to have them demolished in two seconds flat.

"For Christ sake Matt, give over will you?" Steph scoffed as she swung her legs around to rest on Matt's legs, not noticing the mug of tea in his hands, sending the now luke-warm liquid soaring.

"Steph!" Matt attempted yet failed to restrain the cry of annoyance that emulated from his lips as he peered down incredulously at the tea stain on his clean trousers. Steph opened her mouth in order to share the incredibly tongue in cheek comment she'd thought of regarding the gauche stain that could leave all to the spectators imagination, however her well devised come-back was forced to stay dancing sharply on the tip of her tongue as Rachel walked through the door.

"Ok, listen up I haven't got time for your futile chatter therefore I suggest you zip it!" The whole room fell silent as all eyes immediately averted towards Rachel who needless to say wore an expression that even the toughest of men would cower away from. Excluding there was always that inevitable one.

"Somebody didn't pull last night," Steph sang a little too vociferously, earning a warning glance from Matt and Jasmine who had now become aware of the death glare Rachel had bestowed upon that area off the staff room.

"Steph I know that you're a loquacious gob shite but I seriously suggest that you try your very best to refrain from unnecessary commentating." A number of faces around the room couldn't help but smirk at the speechless expression plastered transversely across Stephanie Haydock's features.

"As I was saying before interruptions," Rachel continued with a sigh as she scanned the piece of A4 paper in her hands. "I have with me a list of this terms budget, now as always it is down to the head of department how the money allocated is spent. I cannot stress enough that this money will only come once so if I were you I would shy away from extravagant materialisms. Okay… Kim, the art budget this term is £402. Matt, the dramatic arts department doesn't need an awful lot so you'll be receiving £200." Matt audibly groaned at the miniscule amount of money that was being given however he soon mentally kicked himself when Rachel paused and turned to face him, causing a nervous lump to form in his throat.

"Mr Wilding I can always give you nothing so be grateful" Rachel warned through an elongated sigh before continuing after convincing herself that Matt had wisely opted for the latter of the two choices.

"Ok, science budget again, nothing needed so £200. Sports I'll give you £350, you could do with some new equipment." Unexpectedly Rachel became vocally congested as she paused from reading off of the sheet of paper in her hands. Not that anybody was aware of this but Rachel did not personally arrange the finances of the school, yet as soon as she visualised the maths department budget she was all too aware of how the recipient would construe the pronouncement.

"Um… next, the maths department budget…" The stone cold look that had infested Rachel Masons face just moments earlier had now completely evaporated as she yearned for a forgiving look in Eddie's eyes yet when all she received was a cold glare, she timidly sustained with her gaze averted to an inconspicuous spot on the carpet.

"..Well is £250, as is the English departmental budget for this term. Rachel could hear the unruly grunts and groans coming from Grantly budgeons as he moaned yet again about the English departments financial allowances, however Rachel wasn't in the mood for arguing with an ancient fool such as Grantly Budgeons therefore simply dismissed the staff before padding swiftly out of the room leaving the staff let out a breath that most were not even aware that they were holding.

As the teachers of Waterloo road quietly made their way out of the staffroom the monotonous voice of Steph Haydock reverberated into the ears of anybody who could be bothered to listen.

"Moody cow, can't she take a joke or something?"

Part 2


	2. Chapter 2 part a

Irreplaceable – part 2

As Steph Haydock's year 11 French GCSE class, leisurely made their way into the class room, they were greeted by the arduous prospect of facing an entire hour of French; it may perhaps be illusory that the look of mordant delight printed across their dull expressions when the supplementary proposal of embarking in an aural lesson came to light, did not scream the authentic glee. In all frankness a lot of them had great trouble grasping how to speak the English language never mind having to get their heads around foreign tongue, chiefly when the educator was Stephanie Haydock of all people.

"Ok settle down!" Steph regimented as she strode her way into the class thankfully attaining full attention of the trite delinquents that were Waterloo Road pupils. "Bonjour, entrent et prennent un siege." Steph dictated merrily to the twenty or so blasé faces in the room; "Ok today's lesson is going to be focusing on your speaking, which includes how well you pronounce your French and how well you interpret the French language. Now what I'm going to do is pin point a member of the class and ask a question. If I call your name you will answer in French and I will translate your answer into English and the same vice versa, understood?" This as steph has expected received a chorus of scornful moans from the whole of the class as they each migrated reluctantly to their allocated seats.

Steph peered around the room for a second deliberating who to question foremost, not that it was such an unproblematic decision to make considering as the preponderance of the class would in all probability pipe up with some pig minded class clown effort to be comical.

"…Anyway so I was thinking maybe I could give it a shot you know? I mean come on, you have to at least admit Earl's rather fit and in my opinion it's healthy to have a bad boy chase once in a while." Naomi had become accustom to whispering not so discretely her plans for yet another social venture to Danielle Harker rather than listening to Steph babble on about anything and everything; besides she always picked on the loud obnoxious ones at the back of the class, not the heads daughter. Just as Danielle was about to open her mouth in response, their conversation was interrupted by the screeching resonance of Steph's tone yet again tearing its way into impassive ears.

"Naomi Mason, seeing as though you're very eager to have a little natter, let's go first shall we?" Steph's tone was aurally light hearted yet to any serious listener it was apparent that she had laced it with seriousness. In any usual circumstance, Naomi Mason would have simply answered the specified question with as much poise and graciousness that her mother had raised her to possess; however present conditions hadn't been all that typical for the formerly happy-go-lucky teenager because these days she'd developed a snide, pert attitude which purposely contradicted everything about her mothers parenting down to a t.

"You see I would answer you're little questions but don't you need to teach us some French first miss?" Steph stood completely aghast at the statement coming from the mouth of one of her potential A grade students, not to mention the daughter of the most authoritive figure in this whole establishment. She couldn't be hearing this, she must have misunderstood, mustn't she?

"E… excuse me?!" It was all that the loquacious queen could muster to emulate from her rarely speechless mouth, as she felt herself being dressed down by someone more that 30 years her junior. All eyes were fixed on Naomi as her lips contorted into a malicious smirk, as she causally lent forward obliterating any power that Steph has bestowed upon her into a pile of nothingness.

"Are you retarded or something here, because if I'm hearing you correctly I'm being asked to partake in an activity beyond my ability? Sorry miss but I don't want to make a dick of myself because you didn't teach me." Steph Haydock no matter how lenient she was on her preferred style of teaching, she was by no means going to stand for being spoken to like that, and her continually reddening complexion signalled that Naomi had crossed the mark, and crossing the mark with Steph came at your own risk.

"Listen Naomi," Steph spat as she recovered from the initial shock of being undermined by a well know respectful student, "I don't know what's gotten into you and your little head today but mark my words I suggest that you step down from that high horse of yours and show some respect and just do as I ask." Steph had now regained a stern tone to her voice as she squared up to Naomi who at this point had stood up instigating that she was about to fly well ahead with the impending argument between teacher and pupil.

"Stop being so melodramatic you old tart, you know and I know that you slack about instead of teaching us properly. You're just pissed off that everyone knows what a lazy cow you are." The assortment of gasps and giggles from the class almost immediately became howls of laughter as Steph silently motioned for a smug looking Naomi to follow her outside.

Once Steph was sure that she and an unrecognisable Naomi were out of ear shot, she decided that she would nip this new found persona in the bud whilst it was new.

"Ok lady, what on earth was all of that about hmm?" Steph's expression had turned from angry to incredulous as she searched for a legitimate explanation from the girl stood before her. However Naomi was in no immediate rush to eradicate her new found obnoxiousness, which became palpable as she merely shot Steph a chilling smirk before strolling down the corridor in a cavalier fashion ignoring the calls of warning from the French teacher.

- - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - -- - - --

Rachel glanced at the clock in her office, '9:58am' Rachel's mind dictated the time as it laughed tedious invectives at her, indicating that today was not going to go any quicker much to Rachel's displeasure. 'At least I'll get some peace and quiet' thought Rachel to her self as she organised her recently completed paper work into their equitable places in the filing cabinet where the majority would most likely pose as dust collectors for god knows how long, but needs must it had to be done. Yet Rachel was about to mentally kick herself for jinxing her luscious scheme of amity as the door to her office swung open to reveal an exceptionally disgruntled Steph Haydock, who seemed to loom towards Rachel with alarming speed.

"Can I have a word please Rachel?" Steph asked splittingly as she tightly folded her arms across her chest. Rachel peered at her employee for a moment with a suspicious brow before continuing with sorting her files, in the hope that what it was that Steph was so irritated about wouldn't keep her long.

"Yes Steph, I don't suppose it's about that doctor's note you owe me?" Sighed Rachel sarcastically, not for one second averting her concentrated gaze from the newest piece of paper on her desk.

"Oh no, nothing as trivial as that I'm afraid Miss Mason." Steph quipped back, the metaphorical snarl evident in her tone of voice, as her steamed eyes followed Rachel as she moved from the filing cabinet to the bin.

"Hmmm" Rachel replied amusingly as she padded her way back to her desk, "not even 10 O'clock yet."

"Well you know me, not one to let the grass grow under my feet…" Rachel sighed a little louder that professionally anticipated as she braced herself for what she hoped would be a dilemma resolved quickly. Just that second Eddie trudged his way into the room stopping as he became aware of his intrusion however Rachel motioned for him to stay before turning her attention back to a still heated Steph.

"Anyway as I was saying… Naomi Mason has been acting totally and completely out of line." Rachel's uninterested expression swiftly snapped into one of disbelief as her eyes widened at the sound of her daughter's name.

"What? Naomi? But she's never had any behavioural problems at school." Rachel gasped, double checking what her brain had processed in case she'd misunderstood.

"Well between you and me, I think she's gotten a little bit above her station… and Danielle Harker isn't far behind…." At this point Rachel raised her hand signalling for Steph to stop ranting on; it was one thing getting a complaint about her own daughter however she could not be bothered with dealing in a situation that concerned her friends too.

"Okay let's stick to the facts shall we?" Rachel muttered, flicking through Naomi's report file in search for any written complaints and as predicted there was none however this didn't stop Steph from continuing her little diatribe.

"Ok then, I asked Naomi to engage in a class activity and she called me a cow." Steph had now regained her previous deportment as her arms snaked their way across her chest, her tongue dancing in her mouth as she waited Rachel's judgment on the affair. On the other hand being the professional she is, Rachel refrained from being prejudiced, glancing over to Eddie who was surveying the picture almost scrutinizing.

"Steph are you sure? Because Naomi…"

"Listen I've never known anything like it" Steph interrupted, obviously refusing to settle to being patronised at her witnessing her commotion with the heads precious little fallen angel. "She goaded me, she undermined my authority… she damn near incited a riot!" Rachel's face became serious as she listened to Steph's words."

"So what are you going to do about it?" Steph finished, staring set jawed at her boss who simply sat behind her desk silently beseeching for Eddie to step in, except all he did was spurt Rachel a look that connoted his just deserts.

"Well… I'll… erm… well I'll have a chat with Naomi, find out her side of the story and after that I will come up with a suitable arrangement." Steph scoffed at Rachel's miniscule attempt to resolve an issue that caused her professional life bleed a little into her personal.

"Yeah, yeah, of course you will" Steph snapped sarcastically to Rachel who immediately glared at the French teacher and began to use her authoritive superiority against her employee.

"Err, I hope you're not implying that because Naomi's my daughter I won't handle this situation fairly?!" Steph leaned towards Rachel, in a bit to retaliate when she was abruptly cut off by Eddie Lawson as he stood to take a stance next to Steph.

"I think that's exactly what she's implying Rachel. I mean if this was any other student, there wouldn't be two sides of the story, there would be an immediate disciplinary course of action taken." Rachel, a little taken back by Eddie's choice to side with Steph opened her mouth to speak however was forced to close it again as Eddie turned to address Steph. However even Eddie knew that Steph had a tendency to fabricate the truth into something a little more extreme that it actually turned out to be.

"Right here's what's going to happen," Eddie began shelling an icy glance at Rachel who quickly lowered her head to the floor too scared to disagree with Eddie in front of another member of staff, especially Steph. "I'll be putting Naomi on a full day's in house suspension and she will be required to give you a full sincere apology, failing to do so will conclude with severe consequences."

Satisfied with the final outcome presented by Eddie, Steph thanked the deputy before quietly letting herself out of Rachel's office, clicking the door shut behind her, only too aware of the combat zone she'd almost single handily fashioned.

Rachel didn't dare carry her defeated gaze up to convene Eddie's in sheer trepidation of finding revulsion and disappointment in his eyes she was convinced would be burning at this very instant, instead she resorted to shamefacedly scuffing her shoe on the carpet in a worthless bid to rid the uncomfortable silence that had blanketed them both akin to a thick, dark, black smog.

"I'm at a loss with you Rachel." Eddie spat, defying the stony silence that was haunting the room. Rachel swallowed a rigid swelling in her throat as she timorously looked anywhere but at Eddie, her eye's slowly filling up with frustrated tears.

"Immediate action on the situation was not necessary, I… I know that Steph's…." Rachel's voice was so delicate it was barely audible yet Eddie heard enough to interrupt with harsh bites that made Rachel flinch in fright.

"Do not blame Steph Rachel, we all know what the problem is here." Eddie interrupted staring a blazing fissure into the side of Rachel's head as she tried to avoid any extensive eye contact. "The inevitable truth is that you can't stand the fact that your own daughter resents you enough to act like a low life hooligan to members of our own staff. But then again why would you notice, or is it that you've just turned a blind eye to it all? I mean god forbid if your personal life interfered with your professional." These cold, venomous, sarcastic words were a sufficient amount to formulate an ounce of courage in Rachel as she looked Eddie dead on in the eye, at her professionalism being called into question.

"I'm not trying to keep my personal and professional affairs entirely separate Eddie, I know that I can't do that. But if this is about us then I thought you good enough to understand that I need time before we go blurting the news of our relationship to anyone and everyone." Rachel could feel the slight waver of her vocal chords as she spoke, however managed to hold a stern tone as not to let Eddie hear her defeat.

"You see Rach, that's where I'm confused… you say that it's not a case of keeping professional and personal separate but really what's there to think about? But then again I don't suppose you've thought of what I might want have you?"

Rachel once more broke eye contact with Eddie as she concerted her gaze on the summer's day vista out side of her office window, her temporarily stern tone of voice brutally lashed down to mere sheepishness.

'Oh I have Eddie, believe me I have… but you don't understand, I'm scared of what people will think of the whore who finally found someone to love.. I don't deserve love Eddie, I don't deserve it please understand.' Rachel silently replied in her head, her eye's clouding over with guilt as the logic of her head replied somewhat differently than the sincerity of her heart.

"Eddie if you took your head out of your arse for one second you'd see that I'm not doing this for the good of my own bloody health. It's hard enough being in a relationship with a member of your staff knowing that you're the one who's supposed to be setting an example; plus what about Philip and Naomi? Do they really need the added pressure of us being a couple? It's hard enough the kids and staff knowing that I'm related to them never mind you being in the picture as well." For a moment the room was silent, causing Rachel to let out a breath of relief she wasn't even aware that she was holding however the all too proverbial feeling of heart-wrenching dread came flooding back as Eddie turned and coldly quipped, "added pressure on them? Or added pressure on you?" Before Rachel even had the opportunity to process what was apparently a rhetorical question, she found herself looking at a vacant space before her, faintly hearing the retreating sound of Eddie's footsteps down the main stairwell.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


	3. Chapter 2 part b

"Good morning my lovely little cherubs, I'm delighted you show so much fervour when joining us." Kim Campbell couldn't help but allow the edges of her lips twitch into an amused smile as she watched her year eleven art class traipse into the room. It's a written face that Kim Campbell has by no means been and will by no standards ever be your typical teacher, the one that disciplines a student before they even ponder erroneous behaviour; Kim wasn't one for what the stereotypical being would identify as a 'classroom' teacher. She preferred to let the students investigate their somewhat flamboyant imaginations and true inner selves, and despite the dire repute Waterloo Road had gained over the precedent years, you would be astounded of what potential some of these children have under her watchful care. However no matter how much of an inimitable teacher Miss Campbell was, she was still underhand when it came to certain subjects.

"SEX!" All of a sudden the noise level dropped a remarkable amount of decibels as an integer of shocked, bemused yet amused faces turned to the dark woman.

"I knew that would get you all to zip it" Kim continued, a sly smile dancing on her lips, "now I know you've all being anticipating an oh so joyful art class, however apparently now it's government policy to do an annual sex education class, don't worry I'm as delighted as you to find out it's only a one off – we can go back to Crayola tomorrow." Instinctively this received a mixed response of scoffs, groans, and laughs of embarrassment from the 15 or so 16 year old teenagers who fundamentally treat sex as a the technicalities of a drunken night out.

"Now I know, well I certainly hope the majority of you are aware of sex and what sex is, and I don't necessarily mean the physical aspect but more the mental aspect; do you know the dangers and risks involved?."

"Awh, don't sweat it miss, I'm positive Michaela here can exhibit her knowledge of physical can't you Michaela?" Michaela's face instantaneously turned to thunder as the entire class erupted in goading laughter at Bolton Smilie's personal remark.

"Shut up Bolton, you haven't got a clue." Michaela snarled sharply earning repartee sounds from the majority of the males seated on the next row.

"Ok Bolton that's quite enough from you," Kim interrupted before the whole situation span out of control. Why on earth Rachel gave her the post of sex educator she didn't know yet, in fact she was going to insist a bloody pay rise after a taxing hour of this lot who would have probably been the town round by now. "Are you alright Michaela?" She gave her best attempt to sound concerned for the teenager's feelings but Kim her self knew how promiscuous Michaela could be when it came to be in male company, she without doubt didn't appear to be one to hold back.

"I'm fine miss." Michaela mumbled back unconvincingly causing Kim to question her earlier judgement, yes Michaela might be diminutively loose a times but apparently she did care.

"Are you sure Michaela, because you certainly don't sound it…?"

"I'm positive Miss honestly" Michaela shot Kim a sardonic grin, in cherished hope that she would not press the issue further.

"Yeah HIV positive" Bolton coughed, sending the class once again into a hex of laughter, however this only brought an already fiery Michaela's anger to the boil as she flung herself into a standing position equipped for Bolton Smilie to suffer her wrath.

"You know I find that hard to believe seeing as I'm still a virgin Bolton!" Suddenly the room fell silent; was this true? Had the most thought to be wanton girl in the whole of Waterloo Road turned out to in reality be as chaste as the day she was born? One by one the room erupted in proud ovation as the students praised Michaela for being so incredibly brutally candid with her fellow peers. As Philip applauded Michaela's obviously respected confidence, the contemplation dawned upon him, 'maybe it wasn't so bad being a virgin. In fact it can't be that bad, just look at the respect that Michaela's received….I wish to God I had that amount of respect.'

Out of the blue Philip also stood up out of his seat, catching the attention of the eyes in the room, blurting the news of his virginal virtuousness just as Michaela had done mere moments prior. However Philip promptly wished that he hadn't said anything as the whole class began to chortle yet again, this time chanting 'virgin' at the now distressed teenager who was beginning to headline for the door. What had he been thinking? Had one small spontaneous bout of confidence ruined his social chances at Waterloo Road?

Eddie Lawson gave an exasperated sigh as he dug his biro into yet another piece of tedious coursework, in scripting more than iniquitous comments for a miniscule error; yet granting the fowl mood that this certain Mr Lawson was in, no body would be in the right frame of mind to disagree with his perverse findings. As he scanned the work before him with a rutted brow he was suddenly brought out of his concentrations by the strident sounding of his mobile phone, however his popularity failed to paint a smile on his face when he noticed whom it was he was receiving a text message from.

_Sorry for biting your head off earlier, can we sort this out? _

_I love you xxx_

'Rachel, I cannot be bothered with you and your problems,' Eddie silently screamed as he threw his phone into his desk drawer where he would wrestle the enticement to respond back to her, no this meticulous person could wait. Just then he heard the door of his classroom click open to reveal an obviously distressed Philip Ryan.

"Phil mate, are you ok?" Eddie immediately strode over to the teenager, offering him a place to sit. Philip didn't answer to Eddie's concerned question; instead he simply averted his solemn gaze to study the carpet. Philip wasn't even entirely sure why he had come to Eddie's classroom, but it's just where his frantic feet ended up.

"Yeah, Eddie… I'm fine…" Eddie could tell that Philip had been crying by the reddened state of his eyes and the way he was still sniffing the tears back. Eddie pondered a thought for a moment, studying the teenager's apprehensive form, should he intervene? What ever the problem is shouldn't he be talking to Rachel about it? Then it hit him, what if he wanted to talk about Melissa? Eddie wasn't prepared for that, yet he still wore that engrossed concerning façade that was Eddie Lawson.

"All I wanted was for them to respect me you know? I mean Michaela got a round of applause for god sake but not me, I'm just a weirdo aren't I?" Eddie scrunched his face in a sheer act of bewilderment as he listened to Philip ramble on inarticulately a propos to some sort of mysterious predicament.

"Philip hold on a minute mate… What is it you're trying to say?" Philip immediately stopped speaking as he looked at Eddie shyly, realising that his mouth had been running away with its self.

"Well…" He began, inhaling a deep gulp of air at the same time as contemplating whether or not he ought to say anything. The only quandary was that right now Eddie was the only person he could turn to for advise, he couldn't exactly go to Rachel about the ins and outs of virginity now could he? Deciding it was pre-eminent to get his issues out in the open; Philip swallowed a nervy lump in his throat and began to gradually evoke the previous hour's events to an indisputably concerned Eddie. Rapidly Philip felt him self growing more and more perturbed with every word that spilled out of his mouth, a dampness infecting his whole body as he lost the aptitude to converse further. Compunction and poignant humiliations swam haphazardly throughout his head, clouding his vision. This wasn't right; he shouldn't be confessing these things to anybody…. Eddie would just chortle mocking remarks at him, everybody laughs at him it was what humans did to Philip… laugh vicious torment. Once again Philip found himself running as fast as he could down the void corridors of Waterloo Road, not caring where they took him; all Philip knew was that he had to distance him self from everything all and sundry.

Eddie slumped dejectedly down in his seat, forcing his brain to process his hearings. It had never ceased to amaze Eddie how malicious and convoluted school can be on one child, no to mention the damage it could tear up in someone like Philip Ryan the social inept. The one thing that Eddie couldn't grapple about the minutiae of this outburst was that losing your virginity before the age of 16 is not all that of an immense deal, but of course Eddie understood that Philip interpreted the situation in a different way and would want to come to him for this sort of advice but what does one say to an already delicate young man? Eddie sighed as he rose out of his chair, privately kicking himself for what he was about to do.

For a succinct moment, lingering outside of Rachel's office Eddie wondered whether this was the right thing to do; after all Philip had trusted him enough to confide in him. No, Rachel had to know, no matter how much it seemed that Eddie was betraying Philip's trust, she had a right to know. Just as Eddie was about to twist the golden handle, the door flew open causing him to topple forward onto Rachel.

"Shi… Eddie, sorry, "Rachel stuttered as her straightened her self up however held a perfectly content smile as she assumed that Eddie had finally come to talk to her on his own accord. Yet the hopeful smile instantaneously vanished from her features at Eddie's cold glare. She just wanted to bare her soul to the love of her life standing before her, with not a spec of mirrored sentiment. Was their relationship so bad that he couldn't even return a smile?

"Don't worry Rachel I haven't come to pressure you into not being ashamed about our relationship, I come to talk about Philip then I'll be on my way." His cold-hearted verbal stabbings crippled Rachel's heart to the core as she sheepishly stepped aside in order to grant Eddie admittance to the solitude of her office, because if the way he looked in repugnance at her was any inkling, privacy could well be a virtue.

"Um… Is Phil… is Philip Ok?" Rachel's voice was broken and barely audible as her words seemed to congest painfully in her throat as she cast her eyes anywhere but Eddie, bracing her shattered emotions for the ruthless tone she was about to receive.

"Physically Philips fine, mentally I'm not so convinced. Bolton and crew seem to think it ok to torment the poor lad on his virginal status." Suddenly Rachel felt a strong wave of guilt wash over her as Eddie informed her of her nephew's despondency, or rather according to his callous tone blamed her.

"Eddie, I don't understand. Why didn't he feel like he could come and talk to me?" Eddie scoffed at Rachel's question, ignoring the raw emotional pain, eating away at the sparkle in her eyes. As Rachel gazed into Eddie's eyes waiting for an answer she could have sworn she saw a glint of love still smouldering somewhere in the background. 'Come on Eddie, open up that dirty window, let the sun illuminate the words inside that you cannot find.' Suddenly a rush of panic washed over her as she lost sight of the fire in his eyes, crushing her hopes of forgiveness once again.

"I best go talk to him, he needs me right now, and I need to show him that I care." As Rachel swiftly strode out of her office, fighting the tears that were threatening to cascade down her porcelain face at any second Eddie realised what she was about to do, even he wouldn't approach a depressed, fragile Philip.

"Rachel! Rachel come back he needs to sort this out himself it'll make matters worse! Rachel! But it was too late; she was gone, gone to give her Philip a little bit of hope in this cruel world.

'How could I have been so naïve, of course he hates me why wouldn't he? All my life I've been subjected to hatred, why should Eddie be any different?' The one thing that Rachel reviled about her existence right now was that Eddie Lawson had managed to make those walls she'd spent the past 15 years of her life constructing disintegrate into nothing; and now he hated her too, she just didn't have the strength to restructure those walls. Rachel Mason felt alone and exposed.

As she continued her search for Philip she could have sworn that she heard somebody call her name from the distance… 'Maybe it's the ground to come and swallow me' Rachel joked inwardly to herself in a bid to relieve some of the tension cutting through the normally joyful atmosphere.

"Rachel!"

Stop, there it was again, this time very close, maybe even a little close for comfort. But wait, she knew that voice from anywhere it was no threat to her and her emotions – Rachel immediately plastered her polite, cheery façade that was Rachel Mason as she turned around to face Kim Campbell.

"Sorry Kim I was miles away, how can I help you?"

"Well I was just thinking about the charity fund raiser day coming up next week, and I thought that maybe we could raise money for the Rwandan school my self and Andrew worked with." Rachel nodded in agreement before taking a quick glance at some leaflets that Kim had magically brought out of thin air. It wasn't that she had no interest in the fund raising day, she did immensely in fact – it was just that with each second that passed, was a second longer that Rachel would have to live in culpability of not shielding Philip enough from the vindictiveness of teenagers.

"You know what Kim? I think that's a terrific idea, really I do. Actually could I put you in charge of the organizing stuff, it's just you seem to really know about this stuff and to be quite honest I haven't the first." Rachel inwardly praised herself for the cool, composed response as she took it as her cue to pursue her search for Phillip yet again.

"Oh, and Kim?" Rachel called back as she retreated down the corridor, "don't worry about the cost, it's all on me."

After seemed to be numerous interruptions and obstacles, Rachel finally reached her desired destination of Jasmine Korresi's classroom, where she could already see Philip sat almost distant from the world. Should she leave him be until they got home? Rachel contemplated as she suddenly became nervous, what if Philip rejected her? Telling herself to pull it together she pushed any pessimistic feelings to the back of her mind as she frivolously rapped on the door, graciously announcing her presence.

"Hi, sorry for interrupting Jasmine, but could I borrow Philip?" At the mention of Philips name certain members of the class began to bark hecklings of 'ooooh's' and 'getting you're nappy changed Phil?' straight away causing the piercing sensation to return as the remorse crept its way through Rachel's body yet again.

"OK, that's enough you guys!" Jasmine bawled, immediately achieving the full consideration of the class again as Philip trudged bashfully out of the class room.

"Rachel, I… I'm supposed to be in a lesson." Philip nervously glanced around the corridor as he waited anxiously to heed the motive for Rachel's spontaneous visit, praying to God that it wasn't about what happened in the sex education class earlier in the day.

"I know and I won't keep you long I promise. I was just thinking earlier on about your birthday and I thought well, I thought maybe you'd like a party or something." Rachel paused for a second as she gathered her thoughts. "I don't know, I thought it might help get your mind off of things that have happened lately." This time Philip stared directly at Rachel wondering whether there was any sincerity behind her decision or did she just simply feel sorry for him?

"Rachel I don't need a pity party from you or from anybody else; no amount of partying is going to change the mess my life is right now." Rachel opened her mouth to talk though was sharply cut off by Philip, tears glistening in his eyes as he glared at her, unappreciative of the finicky gesture Rachel had altruistically presented him.

"I'll have the party if it makes you feel better, but just so you know Rachel, it still won't make me part of you're little family thought will it?" By now Philip didn't even endeavour to disguise the angry tears that were falling from his face as Rachel watched in pure astonishment him skidding down the corridor, venting his fury out on the far side display board, leaving her with zilch but guilt, a tired defeat.


End file.
